Police / Criminal Justice

Our communities have remained strong despite decades of neglect by City Hall. Surrounding areas in our borough have experienced both turmoil and transformation.

This didn’t happen by accident and it won’t stay that way automatically. The reason for this continuity is the strength and commitment of our neighborhood residents. John has worked extensively on anti-crime efforts in our neighborhoods, from serving on the 45th Precinct’s Community Council and administering Senator Klein’s graffiti removal program, to helping launch “Stand Up to Violence” Jacobi’s CureViolence program.

As our advocate for public safety, both in the community and down at City Hall, John will fight for:

Combatting “lounges” and nightclubs that threaten our quality of life: John believes that enforcement mechanisms (like MARCH operations) should be greatly expanded to a more borough based approach. He’ll introduce legislation compelling new establishments soundproof their structures if they’re within twenty feet of residential homes.

Creating an incentive program to curb the rise of 24 hour stores: some of these all-night stores are problematic locations for local law enforcement. We should look into an array of incentives we can offer these stores to encourage them to voluntarily close between 2-6am.

Funding for surveillance in high crime areas: John was instrumental in securing video-recording technology in Veterans Park in Throggs Neck, Van Nest Park and Keane Square in Pelham Bay. He’ll allocate resources for our high-crime locations to bring down crime and keep a decent quality life for all.

Traffic Safety: John supports efforts to crack down on dangerous driving. This includes certain tow truck operators speeding dangerously to jobs throughout our community. John will introduce legislation to mandate greater safety and transparency from all operators and will fully review current enforcement mechanisms to provide greater oversight onto this industry.

Promoting youth programing: Children roaming the streets of our community are simply lacking a safe place to enjoy their youth. We need to invest in our children and their future. This includes creating programming and safe locations for them to go and enjoy their spare time with their peers. This will promote social and emotional development, remove children from dangerous situations, and would allow them to use their time in a constructive fashion.

Ensuring those suffering from drug addiction receive fast and effective treatment: For too long, we’ve pushed this problem into the shadows. We need to work with all city agencies to make sure citizens are educated about treatment options and that those options are available in our area as quickly as possible.

Expanding the NYPD workforce so more cops can be distributed to all neighborhoods and we can renew our focus on neighborhood based policing. We cannot tolerate only four PD cars on patrol during weekend evenings within the 45th Precinct. More resources are sorely needed!

As your councilperson, I would support a local bill giving property owners a tax refund or abatement if they install cameras on their property and agree to give the footage directly to the NYPD. Of course, the properties that are eligible would have to be designated first by the police.

I would sign on as a co-sponsor to Intro 0434, the Gun Offender Registry Act, and do whatever I could to pass this legislation and push for it on the state level.